I Could Run Away
by Mourning Dahl
Summary: Allison wants to run away, and luckily, there's a blue box that can help her with that.


Allison slowly walked through the halls of Shermer High School, alone as usual. It was a Monday, two weeks after the best Saturday she had ever had.

As Allison walked, she thought about how depressing it was. After the first and last meeting of what Brian had dubbed "The Breakfast Club," where for the first time she had had friends, nothing had changed. Come Monday, Claire was with her other rich friends, laughing at the lower species of people. Brian had gone back to the brains, Andy to the sportos, and Bender… well, Allison had no idea where John Bender went, although it most likely involved a few felonies.

Maybe it was for the best. Allison thought back to Andy, and their kiss. As first kisses went, it was pretty good. After her father brought her home, Allison had placed her stolen jacket patch into her sparse jewelry box.

Speaking of Andy, she saw him standing with the other football players as she walked out of art class. She kept her head down, but for a brief minute, their eyes connected and a rare smile crept over her lips.

Andy opened his mouth, as if to say something, but another jock called his name, and he just turned away from her.

Allison huffed, turned heel and walked out the doors of Shermer High School. She didn't stop for ten minutes, just walked and walked and walked, meandering down the streets.

'I could run away right now,' she thought, clutching her bag tighter. There wasn't anything to stop her. Her parents were at work, she could go home, get her stuff and some money and _leave._

Allison was so caught up in making her plans that she didn't notice the large box in the middle of the street until she walked straight into it.

"Ow!" She screamed in surprise, holding her forehead in pain. The object she had run into was a blue box with the words 'Police Call Box' around the top. Definitely not something that one saw in the middle of Illinois.

Curious now, the teenager opened it, expecting nothing more than an empty box.

Instead, a golden light came from the box, and inside there stood a large console in a space that definitely should NOT have fit inside.

'Oh god, I really am crazy,' Allison thought exasperatedly. She took a hesitant step forward into the box, feeling the walls; they seemed real enough. Carefully, she stepped to the large console. It was covered in switches, buttons, levers, and cranks, and on a monitor above it read, 'Shermer, Illinois. Year: 1985. Planet: Earth.'

Allison felt her heart skip a beat. Either she had really lost it, this was an elaborate hoax, or she was on a spaceship of some kind. Slowly, she sank into one of the chairs, gripping her bag tightly. There were stairs going off to different parts of the ship, making her wonder exactly how big this place was. She stood up again; she needed to get home and forget about all this definitely before it got weirder. But she had barely gotten off the console platform when she heard a key turn and the door started to open.

Allison bit her lip and ran under the console platform, looking up through the glass. She had hidden herself in the mechanism just in time to see three people enter the room and go above her. She peeked above to see a woman and two men; the woman had long, orange hair and was holding onto a sandy-haired man wearing a vest. The third person was a man wearing clothes that Allison thought only stuffy professors like her father and his friends wore: a tweed jacket and suspenders, and bow tie at his neck. If these people were aliens, why did they look human?

"Doctor, any reason why we came to what has to be one of the most boring cities in America?" Allison heard the orange-haired woman ask, and she was surprised to hear a Scottish accent in her voice.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Amy," the tweed-wearing young man replied, fiddling with the knobs and switching levers. With a huge jolt that sent Allison flying onto the floor, the ship began to wobble and move. "But it seems like the TARDIS is going to allow us to move, so I suppose we'll never find out."

Allison struggled to stand amongst the jolting and struggled to balance herself, the butterflies in her stomach turning to a thrilling sensation.

Finally, the room slowed and stopped moving. With wobbly legs, Allison tried to right herself.

"Hopefully, this will be more to your liking, Amy," the Doctor said optimistically. "New York in the twenties. The roaring twenties!"

Amy grinned and grabbed the other man's arm. "C'mon, Rory, help me find something to wear."

Rory gave her a faux long-suffering look as he allowed her to drag away, leaving the Doctor still twisting knobs and pulling levers.

"You can come out now," he suddenly said.

Allison's eyebrows raised, and her stomach felt like it dropped out of her. 'Oh, my god, is he talking to me?'

The Doctor finally broke away from the console and looked through the glass floors, his brown eyes penetrating Allison's hazel ones.

"Please come out from under the floor, and tell me how you got onto my ship," he requested again.

Allison's cheeks faming hot, she made her way to the stairs to face the man. "I'm sorry," she said, "The door was open and I just got curious…"

"The door was open? That's impossible, it should've been locked."

Allison kept her eyes on the floor, not wanting to meet the man's gaze.

Then, he surprised her.

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and she found the courage to look up. The Doctor was giving her a warm smile.

"Did you want to run away?" he asked.

"How did you know?"

The Doctor didn't answer her question, instead asking, "What's your name?"

"Allison. My name's Allison."

"I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you."

"Hey, Doctor!" Amy called out as she and Rory came back through the doorway, "We're having some trouble- oh." Her words died when she saw the young girl at the console. Rory held her arm protectively. "And who is this?" she asked as politely as she could.

"Amy, Rory, this is Allison. She is why we went to Illinois," the Doctor explained, putting his arm around Allison's shoulders.

Amy gave the teenager a warm smile and held out her hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Allison."

"Yeah," Rory said, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Allison responded shyly, shaking their hands.

"Amy, why don't you help Allison find something to wear to the party?" The Doctor suggested. Amy nodded and took Allison's arm, escorting her to the wardrobe.

"Is this real?" Allison asked quietly as they passed room upon room. Amy looked at the teenager in confusion, and she continued, "It's just, this is a little crazy, even for me."

Amy was quiet for a minute. "I met the Doctor when I was a little girl, and for a long time, people tried telling me it wasn't real. But it is, Allison." She reached the door to the wardrobe and ushered her in. "Believe me, all of this is real."

Later, as Amy put the finishing touches on Allison's flapper look, the young girl couldn't help but laugh as she saw her reflection in the full-length mirror.

Amy smiled too, glad to see Allison happy. They had talked a little while finding something for each of them to wear, and Allison had quietly shared a few details of her home and school life, like how she was considered a "basket case" at her school, and how her parents always ignored her.

"You look beautiful, Allison," Amy complimented, straightening the feathered headband on Allison's dark hair. She had to admit, she felt some slight motherly pangs toward the girl.

"Thank you." Allison twirled, laughing when the beads on the dress clicked together. How often in her life was she going to get made up by beautiful red-heads? And love it each time?

"Okay, I think we've made the boys wait long enough," Amy said, giving her one last once over. The pair walked back to the console, where Rory and the Doctor were waiting.

"Are you girls ready?" The Doctor asked impatiently.

"I think we are," Amy said, taking Rory's arm.

"Wait," Allison said, "What about me? I mean, I'm gonna need to get home eventually."

"Allison, this _is_ a time machine," the Doctor assured her. "I can have you home in time for dinner."

Allison grinned, and the four of them walked out the TARDIS, and into the glitz and glam of the roaring twenties.


End file.
